Shadowing Practice: Slow English Story Time 💬 | Something Crazy I Did (A2–B1) - Learn English Speaking with Video

Hello everyone and welcome back to English Cozy Chat,

a slow English podcast which helps you to learn English in a fun and natural way.

I am Maria and today we are going to talk about

something that was a little bit crazy that I did last weekend.

Now some of you may not think that what I did was

so crazy but to me it did feel very different than something that I would usually do and for me,

it did feel a bit crazy.

I have talked many times on this podcast how I love to dance.

I love doing all different kinds of dance,

and there really is not a kind of dance that I don't like.

I like all different kinds of dance.

And in my town a few weeks ago,

I saw a flyer, a sign posted in the center of town

that showed an event for ecstatic dance.

Now I had heard of Ecstatic Dance before

but to be honest I wasn't really sure what it was

but I thought it seemed kind of cool and different and I decided to go check it out.

So I signed up for the event.

Now, I have now looked up the official definition of ecstatic dance,

and I thought I would just read it to you all.

So ecstatic dance is a type of free dance

where people move their bodies naturally to music without fixed steps or choreography.

There is usually no talking and the focus is on expressing emotions,

relaxing the mind, and feeling connected to yourself and to others.

doesn't that sound cool so I went to this ecstatic dance event last Friday night

and when I arrived I did not know anyone there

which is kind of rare meaning it doesn't happen often

because I know lots of people in my town

but there were maybe 20 people at this event and I didn't know any of them which was also okay.

So when we first got there the lady that puts on the event,

asked everyone if we had a change of clothes,

meaning another shirt and pair of pants,

for example, because she said we would probably end up sweating a lot and would need to change.

But I did not have any extra clothes, but it just made me very curious,

curious as I didn't know what was going to happen.

It made me very curious at the beginning

to really know what kind of dance we were going to be doing and how sweaty were we going to get.

So the first thing that we did in this event was we all sat in a big circle on the ground

and we all introduced ourselves.

Then the lady who was directing the event explained a little bit about what ecstatic dance was.

She first asked if there was anyone who had never done ecstatic dance before

and I was the only one that raised my hand and she asked me,

she said, did someone tell you about ecstatic dance or do you know anything about it?

And I just said no. And in that moment,

I thought, I really don't know why I came here when I really don't know anything about this.

So then she explained a little bit about what ecstatic dance was

and the way that she explained it was a mixture between meditation and movement and dance.

and I thought that sounded neat because I really believe in meditation.

I don't do it as much as I would like to

but I thought okay meditation and dance are two things that I like so maybe this is something that I will enjoy.

She also explained ecstatic dance to be a journey,

one that starts low, then goes up and comes down like a mountain.

So then the music slowly started and she told us all to stand up and walk around the room.

And as the music started, people just started freely dancing.

And when I say dancing,

I don't really mean dancing in an organized way or in a way that goes with the music,

people were more just moving in all different kinds of ways.

And at first I thought, what am I doing here?

I thought, what is this?

Wow.

Because everyone is just moving freely in really crazy ways sometimes.

and I didn't really know what to do.

I of course started dancing in my own way but at first I was a little bit surprised.

So in this moment I definitely started to feel out of my comfort zone.

And to be out of your comfort zone means to be in a situation where you're not comfortable.

Maybe you're doing something new or maybe you're doing something challenging

or maybe you are just doing something that makes you feel kind of weird.

And in this moment, I felt a little bit uncomfortable.

But whenever I am in situations like these,

I always think it is easier to just go for it

and do what others are doing and try my hardest to participate

because that way I'm actually going to get something out of the situation

and grow from it in some way.

so I decided to just dance just how everyone else was

dancing kind of crazy just moving my body in whatever way I wanted to

and to be honest I really started having a lot of

fun it took a little bit of time for me to get warmed up,

but then I really started enjoying it.

It made me feel very free,

and I noticed that it naturally brought a smile to my face.

I felt like I was smiling the whole time just because I was having a really good time.

I think it was really fun to be in an environment where everyone is doing crazy things

and dancing and moving in crazy ways and no one is looking at you and no one is judging you.

And judging means no one is having any kind of opinion about what you're doing.

Everyone was just there to have a good time and to move.

Now, to be honest, if you see a video of ecstatic dance, people can look pretty crazy.

And people probably think that people doing this are drinking or on drugs,

but there is no drinking or drugs allowed in ecstatic dance.

all of the energy comes from within

and this natural energy of the whole event is just developed from the people

and this was really the first time that I have been in a place that is like this And to be honest,

I kind of liked it.

The music was really good and fun to dance to.

It did start slow and then it got more intense

and fast and upbeat beat and that was my favorite part

because it was just really good beats and everyone was just having fun

and it was just a very good vibe and

when something is a good vibe that means it was just a nice fun experience.

Then after the music was really upbeat

100

and intense it started to get more slow

101

so everyone kind of started dancing more slowly until it became very very slow

102

and at this point everyone went to go get a yoga mat.

103

There were yoga mats there and also blankets.

104

So everyone laid out their yoga mats on the floor and laid down and put the blanket

105

over them.

106

At this point, the leader of the event came around with different instruments.

107

First, she came around with a bell and was going around and going ding,

108

ding, in different beats with the bell.

109

She was walking around the room and everyone was just laying there with their eyes closed.

110

This really felt good because in my body I had all of this energy from this dance session.

111

And then to lay down after that and listen to this gentle bell just felt really nice.

112

And after that, she had a drum.

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And she walked around and was beating the drum first,

114

slowly, and then faster.

115

Like that.

116

And this was really cool.

117

The vibration of the drum in this moment just felt really nice.

118

And lastly, she started to sing.

119

She had this beautiful singing voice and just sang these tunes,

120

which were absolutely beautiful.

121

I am not a very good singer so I will not demonstrate how she was singing but you get the idea.

122

And then after that the event was over.

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She told everyone to open their eyes and to gently get up.

124

And then she asked everyone to sit in a circle again.

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So we all sat in a circle again.

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And she asked if anyone wanted to share their experience.

127

There was one lady that said that she had a really bad cold.

128

She had a bad cold, but while she was dancing, she didn't feel the cold at all,

129

that it just kind of went away.

130

and there was another person that said they had so much energy

131

when they were dancing that it was really hard for them to calm down and lay down.

132

I didn't share my experience and to be honest at the end,

133

I was so relaxed that I just felt really good and I didn't feel like talking.

134

And then I came home.

135

It ended up, I did not need a change of clothes.

136

I didn't really get too sweaty, which was good.

137

But when I got home, I really just felt good.

138

I felt like I had a good, positive energy inside of me,

139

and I just felt happy.

140

I went to bed feeling super rested and nice and I was just really happy that I had that experience.

141

Now remember at the beginning of the event I said

142

that I felt kind of uncomfortable and I didn't know what to do

143

but in the end I decided to just really give it my all and dance as hard as I could.

144

And I was really glad that I did that because if I would have left,

145

for example, when this event first started because I felt a little bit uncomfortable,

146

I would have never realized what this experience really would make me feel like.

147

So I was really happy that I stayed.

148

And I think it's kind of a lesson that sometimes,

149

no matter what the situation that we're in,

150

it's always good to just try to participate and to give things your all,

151

meaning to just put all of your energy into something,

152

even if it's not something that you really like or something

153

that you feel really comfortable with because maybe it could be something that you end up liking.

154

So that was really something that I learned from this experience.

155

I'm not really sure if I will go to an ecstatic dance event in the future.

156

I think I would really like to do it,

157

but I will just tap to see if I see another one in my area.

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I would really like to know from you all, have any of you ever done anything like ecstatic dance?

159

Or does this sound like something that you would like?

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or is there something else that you thought would make you feel uncomfortable but in the end you ended up liking it?

161

I would really love to know so please leave me a comment and tell me.

162

I thank you all so much for watching or listening.

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I hope you have a wonderful day And I cannot wait to see you in the next episode.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “Slow English Story Time 💬”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: dance, ecstatic, event, felt, dancing. This video has 163 sentences and 1946 words to shadow. The speech runs for 20:38. The speaker talks slowly, about 94 words per minute, so there is time to copy every sound. 87% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.

Key vocabulary in this video

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

Word	Pronunciation	Meaning
ecstatic adjective	/ɛkˈstætɪk/	Feeling or characterized by ecstasy.
uncomfortable adjective	/ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/	Not comfortable; causing discomfort.
meditation noun	/mɛdɪˈteɪʃn̩/	A devotional exercise of, or leading to, contemplation.
cloth noun	/klɒθ/	A fabric, usually made of woven, knitted, or felted fibres or filaments, such as used in dressing, decorating, cleaning or other practical use. Sometimes…
drum noun	/ˈdɹʌm/	A percussive musical instrument spanned with a thin covering on at least one end for striking, forming an acoustic chamber; a membranophone.
yoga noun	/ˈjoʊ.ɡə/	Any of several Hindu or Buddhist disciplines aimed at training the consciousness for a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquillity; especially a system…
upbeat adjective	/ʌpˈbit/	Having a fast pace, tempo, or beat.
mat noun	/mæt/	A flat piece of coarse material used for wiping one’s feet, or as a decorative or protective floor covering.
vibe noun	/vaɪb/	An atmosphere or aura felt to belong to a person, place or thing.
freely adverb	/ˈfɹili/	In a free manner.
blanket noun	/ˈblæŋ.kɪt/	A heavy, loosely woven fabric, usually large and woollen, used for warmth while sleeping or resting.
podcast noun	/ˈpɑdˌkæst/	A program, especially an audio program, produced on a regular basis, delivered over the Internet in a compressed digital format and designed for playback on…
relax verb	/ɹɪˈlæks/	To make something loose.
choreography noun	/ˌkɔɹiˈɑɡɹəfi/	The art of creating, arranging and recording the dance movements of a work, such as a ballet.
vibration noun	/vaɪˈbɹeɪʃən/	The act of vibrating or the condition of being vibrated.

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Word	Meaning
end up verb	To bring to a conclusion.
walk around verb	To walk with no planned destination; to meander.
lie down verb	To assume a horizontal position.
calm down verb	To become less excited, intense, or angry.
come down verb	To descend, fall down, collapse.
get up verb	To move in an upward direction; to ascend or climb.
go around verb	To move or spread from person to person.
go away verb	To depart or leave a place.

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

Structure	In the video
Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now	have talked · have now looked · have been
Relative clauses who / which + clause — extra information about a person or thing	them which was · anyone who had · sweaty, which was
Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the past	was directing · was smiling · was just having
Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form	started dancing · started having · started enjoying

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 23 contractions and reduced forms, such as didn't, don't, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

The “sh” and “zh” sounds: meditation /mɛdɪˈteɪʃn̩/, vibration /vaɪˈbɹeɪʃən/, emotion /ɪˈməʊ.ʃən/
Long words — get the stress right: uncomfortable /ʌnˈkʌm.fɚ.tə.bl̩/, choreography /ˌkɔɹiˈɑɡɹəfi/

How to practise with this video

Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
Shadow it sentence by sentence at normal speed, repeating each one until your rhythm matches the speaker.
Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like ecstatic, uncomfortable, meditation.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

Key vocabulary in this video

Phrasal verbs you will hear

Grammar in this video

Pronunciation to watch

How to practise with this video

What is the Shadowing Technique?